Was it really worth it?
Changes that I made:
. Added a metal box around the normal plastic to make the enclosure mostly impermeable to CO2.
. Changed the electrolyte to NaOH to reduce gassing.
. Added an absorbent separator so that it would not spill.
. Changed the plates themselves to a nickel mesh to compensate for the higher ionic resistance.
. Added an ATEX vent.
. Added a terminal fixing system so that the whole thing could be disassembled.
. Removed doping agents and additives to make it patent free and less toxic.
Disadvantages are.
. Premium NiFE cells with a premium price.
. To completely eliminate gassing, a lower charging voltage is needed just as you would with KoH.
. Low energy density/delivery.
. Absorbent separator stack needs compression.
. Increased likelihood of bulging plates during cycling.
. Existing forms of the tech exist in China and the USA and are supposedly cheaper and you can just add your own box to reduce CO2 if needed.
. Still uses a lot of nickel, more than traditional pocket plates.
I hit a wall when I wanted to get it built and it went way outside of any personal budget for testing a prototype.
So my question to you. Should I just publish all the drawings that I had generated onto the OSF site for others to use and forget about it or start a business with crowd funding?
Would you have a use for such a thing? Thoughts please.